Senior adopted rabbit chewing much of the time, not finishing salad, and pooping not normal

[EdwardV]

We adopted a senior male rabbit, Norm, that has been having a few issues. For about two weeks he has been chewing most of the time, not eating much of his salad, and randomly has globed together poop (see attached image). I would say about 10% of the poop is globed together. Took him to the vet a day or so after it started and the vet prescribed a few medications to treat his GI tract. He eats his pellets and Oxbow joint bisects as always but rummages through his salad. Eventually he will eat most of the salad but he used to finish his pellets and salad in about 10 minutes. We have been giving Oxbow Critical Care for the past two weeks when these issues started.

He has a history of dental problems but I had just taken him about a month ago for a senior checkup and his teeth were still in good shape and did not need to be cut. Everything else on the blood workup looked good.

Took him back five days ago and the vet prescribed an antibiotic. The chewing most of the time has become less. But he is still having the poop issue and still not eating like he usually does. Vet said to bring him back if we do not see a positive change by Monday.

Just wondering if anyone else has seen this combination of problems before and what was the resolution.

 

[JBun]

It sounds to me like a dental issue is still the problem. Did the vet do the dental exam under sedation, to get a good look at the very back teeth? It can be hard to do a thorough check in a conscious exam. Or were xrays done? There could be other dental problems causing him pain when he chews, like overgrown tooth roots or infected teeth.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Teeth
If the vet didn't also put your bun on meloxicam for pain, I would suggest requesting a prescription for it from your vet. It may help get your bun eating a bit better until the problem going on is figured out and resolved. It's important to make sure an adequate dose is prescribed, as some vets less experienced with rabbits don't prescribe a high enough dose, so it's not effective. Rabbits need about 3 times the dose a dog would get. I would want to start out at the highest dose of 0.6mg/kg, twice a day for 5 days to get the pain under control, then reduce the dose as needed after that.

https://www.vgr1.com/metacam/
If there are still normal fecal balls being produced, the mushy poop is likely to be unformed cecotropes due to lack of enough fiber from hay, sudden changes to your rabbits diet, and possibly the antibiotics as well. If no normal fecal balls are being produced, this is true diarrhea which is an immediate emergency in rabbits.

Mushy cecotropes can be a common problem that happens in rabbits with dental problems, because of the lack of hay consumption and sudden diet changes that occur when a rabbit has problems with their teeth. Once the dental issue is fixed, the mushy cecotropes should correct itself. Though this may take putting your rabbit on a high grass hay diet for a few weeks to restore the proper microbial balance in the cecum.

https://rabbit.org/intermittent-soft-cecotropes-in-rabbits/
If your current vet isn't a very experienced rabbit vet, I would suggest finding one to take your rabbit to if needed

https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/

 

[EdwardV]

The vet did do an x-ray as well as the oral exam. He said the teeth were not perfect but that they did not need to be cut. Before we adopted him a vet prescribed Norm .4mg meloxicam a day for arthritis. Norm does not eat hay - never has. His vet records confirmed he has always been like that. We have tried various types of hay including orchard and hay balls. For pellets he is getting Sherwood Adult Rabbit Food. There are still normal fecal balls being produced. I would say 90% are normal.

Both vets Norm has been to are small animal vets. One is a specialty place for small animals. They treated him for his previous owners.

I did forget to mention that all of these problems started when he started shedding.

Today he did eat all his salad. That is the first time he has done that in about two weeks. So maybe we are over the hump.

 

[JBun]

If your bun is drooling, has odd chewing behavior, and selective eating, I would still suspect some sort of mouth or dental problem going on, that the vet isn't finding. Unusual drooling is a big indicator of dental problems. Sometimes it can just be a little molar spur way at the back of the mouth, that is hard to see in a normal concious dental exam. If your bun isn't getting back to normal soon, is still drooling, and having issues, your vet may need to do a more thorough dental exam under sedation.

 

[EdwardV]

Seems better today. Chewing and drool are much less. We are watching him closely. Have a call into the vet.

 

[EdwardV]

He ended up needing to go back to the vet that cut his teeth and they found a spur that was digging into his tongue Vet was surprised he was eating anything. We weren't. Norm loves food. He just had a dental a month before so that is why we were having trouble believing it was a dental issue.

Now we know what to look for if it happens again.

 

[White Rabbit]

He ended up needing to go back to the vet that cut his teeth and they found a spur that was digging into his tongue Vet was surprised he was eating anything. We weren't. Norm loves food. He just had a dental a month before so that is why we were having trouble believing it was a dental issue.

Now we know what to look for if it happens again.

Glad it all got resolved, shame it took so long though. Hope it's clear skies from here on

 

[JBun]

Yay!!! So glad your vet found the problem! Rabbits mouths and teeth are so small. I guess it's not too surprising that these things can sometimes get missed.